Author: jwheeler1967

Lead Editor at eNotes.com, Associate Faculty English Collin College, Richland College

Literary America: Ten Places to Visit for National Author’s Day

jwheeler1967 October 9, 2013

Mark your calendars and make some plans! November 1st is National Author's Day. In 1929, the General Federation of Women's Clubs created the day to honor America's writers; in 1949, the day was officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Congress. The resolution states, in part, that "[b]y celebrating author's day as a nation, we…

“A Government of Wolves”: Ten Writers Sound Off

jwheeler1967 October 4, 2013

Like most of you, I am becoming more and more annoyed by the government shutdown. Yesterday, I heard a sick child will not get his weekly visit with a therapy dog because those "non-essential workers" had been "furloughed." Here are ten quotes from writers, past and present, that may help you channel and articulate your…

“The Point of Life Was to Press On”: Remembering Tom Clancy

jwheeler1967 October 2, 2013

Fans of espionage and military science novels have lost one of that genres' most popular authors. Tom Clancy has died at age 66. The cause of death has not yet been released. Here are some facts about Clancy that you may not know: Worked as an insurance salesman after attending Loyola College. Tried, but failed,…

Baffling Banned Books: A Fun (Disturbing) Quiz!

jwheeler1967 September 27, 2013

If you've waited to celebrate the chance to be Officially Subversive during Banned Books Week, it's not too late! Sure, you probably figured that Huck Finn is a perennial favorite for its politically incorrect language and Fifty Shades of Grey for its Crimes Against Ink and Trees, but I am willing to bet there are quite a few…

No Child Left Inspired: Parent-Teacher Night Blues

jwheeler1967 September 24, 2013

Last night I attended Parent-Teacher night with my eighth grade son. It was depressing. For two hours, I, my son, and several hundred other parents were herded from classroom to classroom where we were introduced to the variety of TEKS tests our children would endure this year. TEKS, the acronym for the assessment "Texas Essential…

Writer Fight! Writer Fight! : William F. Buckley, Jr. v. Norman Mailer

jwheeler1967 September 20, 2013

Norman Mailer, that ever-so-macho author (The Armies of the Night, The Naked and the Dead) is almost as well-known for his physical fights as for his writing. He famously head-butted Gore Vidal in the green room before their mutual appearance on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. Once on set, the altercation turned menacingly verbal, with Cavett getting…

Tacos with Pynchon, Burgers with Hemingway

jwheeler1967 September 18, 2013

Spencer Tracy and Ernest Hemingway with Friends at La Florida (“Floridita”), Havana, Cuba. Ernest Hemingway Collection. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston. In between drinking (Hemingway) and hiding (Pynchon), these two iconic writers were known to procrastinate in the way that many of us who write do: by chowing…

Don’t Have Any FOMO! The Complete List of New Words in the OED is Here

jwheeler1967 September 13, 2013

Don't know what FOMO stands for? Yeah, me either. (Psst... old folks! It means, "Fear of Missing Out.") Good thing it is one of the sixty-five new entries in the venerable Oxford English Dictionary. As you will see, many of them are from the virtual world. Among my favorites, which originated on Reddit, is TL;DR (Too long;…